Sunday, November 23, 2008

This weekend I came across this little tidbit from Ken Rosenthal when I felt shivers run up my spine. I can even pinpoint the three words that had that chilling effect...

The Pirates, talking about shortstop Jack Wilson with several clubs, are trying to acquire catcher Matt Treanor from the Marlins, then spin both players to the Tigers, according to one major-league source.

Listen - there is no question that the Twins are one of those clubs. Wilson personifies the type of shortstop the Twins have tried to plug into their infield since the departure of Christian Guzman. He's supposedly a wonderful fielder, abysmal hitter and overrated player. The same unholy mold that stamped out Juan Castro and Adam Everett begat Jack Wilson.

So there is no question he is on the top of Ron Gardenhire's wish list this Christmas. After all, who wouldn't want a 30-year-old shortstop with decreasing range and an OPS that was 100 points lower than Nick Punto posted last year? Oh, and whichever team acquires him will need to pay him $6.5 million next year, too. After all, he's an all-star. Sigh.

The question is what will the Twins be willing to give up for him. The Pirates keep claiming they only want "fair value", but the offers of a bucket of warm spit have not been accepted, so they're lying about that. But can we trust the Twins to be reasonable about this? Can anyone else see them trading Nick Blackburn for him? Or Anthony Swarzak? Or Brian Duensing?

Crazy talk? Well, consider that the Twins signed up Everett before he had been on the market even 24 hours. I barely had time to mock the possibility of the Twins chasing him before he signed. I don't want to be pessimistic, but I'd be lying if I said this realization didn't further dampen a cold winter weekend in Minnesota.

7 comments:

Where does the Twins washed-up veteran fetish come from? Every year they sign 2-4 new ones only to have them washed out by the All-Star break. Why don't they ever just consolidate those wasted resources to 1 player and let the younger talent in the system take care of the rest? Watching Buscher screw up at third was tolerable because he has upside. Watching Lamb was about like stabbing a fork in my eye.

he is a pretty good defender, and he had a nice 07 offensively (.296/.350/.440) and he never strikes out much. other than hardy or escobar (who would both cost A FORTUNE player wise) who else is there to get? furcal is too expensive and cabrera may be worse than wilson. i could see a wilson/boof swap, and i would'nt cry or scream.